It's been a while since I was able to post last, so sorry about that.

June 15
Today we spent a lot of time walking through the neighborhoods. I always try to give the kids a high five, but they don't know what I mean. They just stare at me funny when I hold my hand up. Today when we passed some small children I got a hand shake instead. But they all yell "bye muzungu" even if they really mean hello.

We also went out to eat for the first time today. We went to the same place where they had karaoke, but we went a little earlier this time. We ordered pork skewers and they bring out these long skewers with pieces of pork on them. They brought us some side items, like tomatoes and avocado. The best part is that you eat everything with your hands. They walk around with pitchers and basins and wash your hands for you. But I still used hand sanitizer even after the hand washing.

This time we met to older men. I think they were curious as to what we were doing and decided to come and talk to us. It is interesting once we start telling people what we are hear to do, they always have an lengthy opinion about it which is good for us as we are trying to collect information. I think we lucked out by coming into a society that likes to socialize and discuss.

I noticed that my ear is getting better for hearing African English. I'm still not very good at speaking in African English. People are funny because they claim that I have an accent, but they don't mean a southern one, they mean an American one.

June 16

Today we walked all the way to the foundation to see how long it would take us. It was only and hour and a half. Today was mostly a working day at the foundation. Going through files and taking notes. It's good work though.

For lunch we went to an Italian place down the road. We have since discovered where all the white people are hanging out. I thought it was pretty funny. I ordered Ravioli and Dustin got a Hawaiian pizza. It was all excellent, and authentic. I think the man who owned it was actually Italian. I broke the parmasian dish and spilled parmesian cheese every where. I was just trying to put some on my ravioli. And then I tried to cover it up with my plate, but it just smooched it into the table cloth. =) Dustin seemed to think it was pretty funny. While we were at lunch it actually rained with thunder. This was the most it has rained since we've been here. I don't think it would be very nice during the rainy season. I like when it rains because it settles all the dust.

We walked back that evening and picked up a watermelon along the way. Dustin almost dropped it when he slipped on the dirt road that leads down into the compound and almost fell into a car. I'm pretty sure it was karma coming back around to him for making fun of me when I slip.

June 17

Today was another day at the foundation. Not really interesting except for that we met some of the mentors and supervisors. Two exciting things happened. One, we got a little modem for our laptop and so now we have internet at our house! It's pretty exciting that we won't have to walk down to the internet cafe anymore. It's still slow, but now I can write and wait for pages to load at the same time! Two, Dustin and I sign up for a coffee safari. It sounds pretty touristy, but I'm excited to finally get to do something touristy. We go to the coffee shop early in the morning. They feed us breakfast and then take us out to a coffee plantation for the day. I'm not much of a coffee drinker, that's more of Dustin's thing, but I'm super excited to just get out of the city for the day.

Another short history lesson. During the dictatorship of Amin in the late seveties and early eighties, the economy in Uganda was collapsing. To make money people on the eastern boarder of Uganda would pack up their coffee beans and drive them into Kenya on bikes, and make tons of money. They would then buy lots of goods and transport them back into Uganda. All of this was highly illegal, but the money was so good, many people dropped what they were doing and picked up the trade. So if you had Kenyan coffee during that time, it is likely that some of it was actually Ugandan.